Awakening
by silverlodi
Summary: What happens when Edward finally fulfills his promise to turn Bella into a vampire? How does she handle the change, and who lies waiting on the other side- Bella, or just a shadow of her human self?


She held her breath as he lowered his head to her neck. This was it, she was finally going to be one of them. It was what she had wanted since the moment she had discovered that he was a vampire. To be with him, to share his pain, his laughter, his struggles, his joy- this was her dream, and finally it was time for that dream to become a reality.

In spite of the gentle touch of his hand on her neck, she could not help but feel afraid as she felt his cool breath carress her neck jsut secods before the teeth reached her. She gasped as they punctured her skin, drawing blood. That toungue that held nothing but good memories for her cleaned the wound, washing the blood down his throat. She felt him stiffen and knew that it was taking everything he had to keep himself under control. She felt him wash more of her blood down his throat before the teeth unclenched, releasing her from that draining sensation.

She stood for a moment looking into his sorrow-filled eyes. She knew he really didn't want to do this, did not want to put her through the torture of becoming a rock in the river of time. Did not want to let her experience the unquenchable thirst for the fragile creatures that swarmed the earth. But as long as she was with him, she knew, none of that could ever matter to her.

Her head started to cloud, and her vision began to go blurry. She fell to the floor, no longer capable of supporting her own weight. And then came the pain. An unbelievable, searing pain rocked her body. She could no longer feel anything, see anything, the pain was her whole life and it consumed her. Every muscle, every bone, every inch of skin burned with white fire. She writhed on the floor, searching for escape, but there was none.

Her screams filled the air. She wished that her mind would shut down, that it would end, but there was nothing there. She screamed the name of the one person that she had always believed would be there for her, would protect her from harm, but to no avail. She could not feel him hold her in his arms becuase of the pain, she could not see his pained expression watching from above because of the pain, she could not hear his soothing words because of the pain. She was alone, and there was nothing but an eternal hurt in the world that surrounded her.

It went on for 3 days and 3 nights, and by the end of it, she had lost herself. She could no longer remember a life where that pain hadn't existed, a life where his very presence was enough to shield her from it. And she arose, a wreck, a being with no past and no future, a vampire.

The pain had left, but in its place came the thirst. She could not remember when the smell of blood had been so appealing, could not remember when she had ever cared for the silly little beings that surrounded her. There was only one thing that filled her mind, and that was the thirst. It dominated her senses, her very existence, much as the pain had only a few seconds ago, and she submitted herself to it, lacking the will to resist, unsure of even why she should resist.

Then she was gone, rushing toward the smell that wafted towards her, teasing her, beckoning her forward. An arm from some unseen force reached out and tried to stop her, but she lashed out at it. All that she wanted, all that she cared for, was to satiate the thirst. She broke away from the restraining arm and sniffed the air to see what direction that smell was coming from. She broke out in a run, reaching the creature within a split-second, and sinking her teeth into it.

The sensation of blood flowing through her teath and down her throat was the most satisfying feeling she had ever felt. When had she ever needed anything more than thin, anything beside this wonderful, fulfilling feeling. There came a point when the blood no longer flowed, and then she moved on to the next one, and the next one, not aware of the horror-stricken eyes that followed her, terrified of what they had turned her into, yet unwilling to raise a hand to stop her, unwilling to send her back into that world of pain which she had just climbed out of, unwilling to accept that the only one he had ever loved was gone from this world. 


End file.
